“There are no station announcements to signal to riders which train will arrive first. There are no countdown clocks. And so the travelers help one another, communicating the hints they have trained their senses to capture: the pitch of a screech when a train comes to a halt — unique depending on the line, some insist; the rustling of newspapers, windswept by an oncoming train; the wave of a hand, the nod of a head, a pull on the top of a baseball cap, like a third-base coach advising his player to steal.”

♠ Leslie Knope sent out her end of the year newsletter, with the top 3 Park events of 2012. Always a good year when you become raccoon-free.

♠ Any L.A. photography I can find that documents things like this – things that could be a strange setting in a David Lynch movie – are in my wheelhouse. “I find the mundane to be extravagant and I find the beauty in the expired; This is my Los Angeles.” The Expired LA series, by photographer Vicky Moon, is great.

♠ Last month on the Diane Rehm Show, she talked to Domingo Martinez, author of The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir. I didn’t catch the original airing, so when I heard it this morning, I knew I had to read this book. I love strong matriarch Latinas.

♠ I found my new favorite way of capturing the year ahead and behind: One Charming Party’s Resolution Printable.

♠ A stellar, gorgeous song that makes a perfect end-of-year winter song.